Artist Attention: BLACKPINK

Attention everyone, Blackpink is in your area! This four piece K-pop girl group is breaking records and taking names, and they’ve been doing it since before they even debuted.

Blackpink, being the first girl group to debut from YG Entertainment since 2NE1 in 2009, was already on K-pop fans’ radar from the moment the first teaser images dropped early in the summer of 2016 (actually probably since that dance cover dropped of the girls killing it to Rihanna’s “Bitch Better Have My Money”).

The group is made up of Jisoo, 23, from Korea, Rose, 21, from Australia, Lisa, 21, from Thailand, and Jennie, 22, from New Zealand.

No one was ready for these girls when they debuted in August 2016 with the tracks “Boombayah” and “Whistle,” which got them their first music show win right away, something not many groups can do with their debut song. “Boombayah” began with Lisa’s iconic line, “I don’t wanna boy, I need a man” and Jennie’s legendary rap. “Whistle” was the complete opposite of “Boombayah”–it was chill, aesthetic, and made everyone “whistle like a missile.”

Basically from the moment Jennie muttered “Blackpink in your area,” the world was obsessed.

After releasing the addicting track “Playing With Fire” and the acoustic single “Stay” later that year, fans entered the Blackpink drought until June 2017 when they got the summer smash hit “As If It’s Your Last”–a bright and fun track with a cuter image than their previous singles. But that’s all they got again for an entire year until June 2018.

Photo Courtesy of AllKpop

Then, for the first time since they debuted, the girls released the mini-album, “Square Up,” with four whole songs. FOUR. The lead single, “Ddu-du Ddu-du,” is arguably the girls’ most iconic song to date. Most importantly, rapper Jennie came back to save the rap industry and show us what she’s capable of.

In its first week, the song garnered over 31 million digital sales in Korea, according to the Gaon Download Chart, and by the second week over 85 million. The music video sits at almost 500 million views at this moment, and broke all previous records for music video views among K-pop groups.

The album also debuted at number 40 on the US Billboard 200 chart, making Blackpink the highest charting K-pop girl group of all-time. In Korea, the album racked up almost 179,000 physical copies sold in about two weeks.

The album also contains the tracks “Really,” an R&B-pop fusion with killer English raps from Lisa, “Forever Young,” an upbeat club-track encompassing youth, and “See U Later,” a fierce girl-power track with classic lyrics to sing to a guy like “see ya later, maybe never.”

The Blackpink members dominate in all areas though, not just music. When it comes to fashion, Blackpink is always ahead of the game with fascinating outfits, especially Lisa who also dominates the dance world. Rose probably has some of the most unique vocals in all of K-pop, and captivates audiences with every performance. Every time a member appears on a variety show it trends #1 for days. When Jennie was on “Running Man” recently, she literally almost broke the internet with her cuteness.

Photo Courtesy of Allkpop

Jennie recently made her solo debut on Nov. 12 with the single “SOLO,” the first BlackPink member to do so.

The single, which fans are already calling a “feminist anthem,” has became a certified ‘All-Kill’ (#1 in all of the South Korean music charts), is nearing 70 million views on YouTube, and reached No. 12 on the U.S. iTunes chart.

The track starts slow but builds up to the upbeat chorus, “I’m shining solo,” a clever wordplay in Korean sounding like she’s saying “Bitch I’m solo” in English.

In the music video, Jennie is a heartbroken princess embracing her solo-ness and being done with fake relationships. In a way it’s simple and innocent, but Jennie also shows her duel sexiness and cuteness.

The best part of the music video, besides all of her amazing outfits, might be the all English rap in the middle of the song, “You’re sittin’ on your feelings, I’m sittin’ on the throne,” she raps in the classic laundromat scene.

She even participated in making the choreography, writing the lyrics, choosing the outfits, and creating the concept, she revealed in her VLive.

This year the world has fallen in love with Jennie for her immense charms on and off screen. The fashion guru has also made a name for herself in that realm now that she’s the new face of Chanel.

Photo Courtesy of Teenage Singapore

BlackPink has had a big year in 2018, and were even were recently featured on Dua Lipa’s album in the track “Kiss and Make Up,” after it was announced that the group signed with Interscope records in the U.S.

The group also held their first concert in Seoul back in November, which marks the start of their first ever world tour that will be coming to the U.S. later this year.

We’ve already seen that this group is capable of so much with so little. Although smaller than most groups their age, Blackpink’s discography is already incredibly diverse–they can pull off moving acoustics ballads like “Stay” to wild party tracks like “Boombayah” and do it all with their signature Blackpink style and attitude.

This two-year-old group is rewriting the history of Korean girl groups and opening up so many doors for those coming after them–just like their senior group 2NE1 did before them. They are not just on top in Korea or K-pop, but worldwide.

I mean, “Blackpink is the revolution.”

The world can expect big things from BlackPink and Jennie in the future. You can go “solo lo lo lo lo lo” with Jennie and stream “SOLO” on Spotify and iTunes now or pick up BlackPink’s mini-album “Square Up”!

Aubree Stamper is a senior at UM-Dearborn where she studies journalism and is in her second year as the photo editor of The Michigan Journal. Aubree is also a photographer and enjoys covering alternative rock music and Korean entertainment.